Reference no: EM133332890
You are a commander in a big city police department, and your precinct covers a predominantly African American community. Gun violence in the area has reached epidemic proportions. Much of this crime is reported to be gang-related. In efforts to combat this violence, you are considering utilizing a focused-deterrence strategy.
An emergency meeting has been called together by a group of community leaders to discuss your ongoing violence response. When you outline the planned response, there are mixed reviews. Many in the room feel that a focused-deterrence strategy will be highly effective because it is likely that very few people are committing most of these crimes. Others think that a focused-deterrence strategy has negative ethical implications that will further harm the community.
One well-respected clergyman brings to your attention to these statistics:
The US Census Bureau African Americans make up 13.4% of the total US population.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons reports that African Americans make up 38.2%.
When comparing these two statistics, the number of incarcerated African Americans is exponentially disproportionate compared to their total population. Due to these statistics, a focused-deterrence strategy would be racially biased, leading to human rights or civil liberty violations. Buy-in from the community leaders is paramount to the success of your instituted strategy.